Slow boot up - Local Area Connection searching for IP address

Hi everyone. I've been searching high and low for an answer to this, and I really hope someone can help me!

Just got a new computer, and everything is working fine, except that it takes a long time to boot up. I have narrowed down the cause and it seems that it is the Local Area Connection searching for an IP address. Windows loads up, three icons appear in the system tray (this is all really fast), then the computer hangs for about a minute before the Local Area Connection icon appears with the message "Limited or no Connectivity." After this the computer is good to go!

My system is an AMD 3800+ X2 on an Asus M2N-SLI Deluxe motherboard running XP Pro SP2. I connect to the Internet (High Speed Sympatico DSL here in Canada) using a username and password, which means I have set this up as a separate connection using XP's Network Connection Wizard. The connection works just fine, but if I try to disable the Local Area Connection that automatically loads on startup, my Internet connection is dropped. If I try to reconnect, I get the message "Specified destination is not available," and I'm not able to use my Internet connection again until I reconnect the before mentioned Local Area Connection. When I do that, the icon that appears in the system tray says "Acquiring network address," and a little dot moves around on the icon. Even before it's done with this process I am able to connect to the Internet again using the connection I set up myself (with the username and password).

So, my question is, is there any way for me to be able to connect to the Internet without the Local Area Connection automatically loading up and slowing down startup? I'm hoping this is something very elementary, and I will go "Doh!" as soon as someone points it out! I also hope my whole description is not too confusing.

Thanks!

 

The only time I've seen a machine get stuck on acquiring a network address is when it is trying to take an address that is already in use on the network. You can manually specify an address that will never change (called a static address). To do so, please do the following:

1. Right-click My Network Places
2. Select 'Properties'
3. Right-click the Local Area Connection
4. Select 'Properties'
5. Highlight Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
6. Press the 'Properties' button

Here, you will see a dialog with all the properties you need to configure your network card. Select the radio button beside 'Use The Following IP Address'. The settings you choose will depend on your network, so I must stop here. If you require any further help, just post back!

 

Thanks for your reply.

After overcoming my initial hesitation about playing around too much with a new computer I think I solved it. It seems as if the network connection is by default set up to connect you to the Internet. This is what happens at startup, and when I have a connection that requires entering a username and a password, it keeps trying to connect until it gives up. However, it seems as if I need to have the Local Area Connection active to be able to connect at all, so what I had to do was simply deactivate its Internet Protocol, which was active in my broadband connection anyway, and then the problem was solved. This probably all sounds really confusing since I don't have the vocabulary to explain everything. Here's some images for illustration:





It was the Local Area Connection 3 that kept trying to connect at startup, and disabling the Internet Protocol seemed to take care of the problem. Hopefully this might help some other technical novice (like me!) that might run into this in the future!